1754 – New World: Benjamin Franklin introduces Albany Plan of Union, based on the Iroquois Confederacy. The Plan is rejected, but its essential elements adopted a quarter century later as the US Constitution.

1861 – José Protasio Rizal was born (d. 1896). Filipino poet and national hero. A militant reformist, publication of his novel El Filibusterismo led to his being tried and executed by the military in 1896. His death was the catalyst that precipitated the Philippine Revolution.

1909 – Osamu Dazai was born (d. 1948). Japanese novelist, literary voice of his generation after WWII. Joined the communist movement briefly. Friends with writer Masuji Ibuse. The tone of his postwar works reflect emotional crisis and suicidal thoughts. In 1948 Dazai drowned himself and left behind the unfinished novel Goodbye.

1937 – US: The Women’s Day Massacre: When the cops in Youngstown, pursuing the American Dream, couldn’t find any union leaders to beat up, they went after women picketers sitting in chairs supporting the strike. They beat ‘em good & left a few bodies in their wake.

1938 – Italy defeats Hungary 4-2 during the 1938 FIFA World Cup to become the first national team to defend a title. / A Italia derrota na final a Hungria por 4 a 2 em Paris e sagra-se Campeã Mundial de Futebol pela segunda vez consecutiva.

1178 – Five Canterbury monks see what was possibly the Giordano Bruno crater being formed. It is believed that the current oscillations of the moon’s distance (on the order of metres) are a result of this collision.

1959 – Governor of LouisianaEarl K. Long is committed to a state mental hospital; he responds by having the hospital’s director fired and replaced with a crony who proceeds to proclaim him perfectly sane.